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This information is available free of charge in electronic, audio, Braille and large print versions. For assistance in understanding or reading this document or specific information about this Agenda call Democratic Services on 01629 761300 or e-mail [email protected] 18 September 2015 To: All Councillors As a Member of the Local Plan Advisory Committee, please treat this as your summons to attend the meeting on Monday 28 September 2015 at 6.00 pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Matlock. Yours sincerely Sandra Lamb Head of Democratic Services AGENDA 1. APOLOGIES Please advise the Committee Team on 01629 761300 or e-mail [email protected] of any apologies for absence. 2. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION To enable members of the public to ask questions, express views or present petitions, IF NOTICE HAS BEEN GIVEN, (by telephone, in writing or by electronic mail) BY NO LATER THAN 12 NOON OF THE WORKING DAY PRECEDING THE MEETING. NB: REPRESENTATIONS MUST RELATE SPECIFICALLY TO ITEMS BEING CONSIDERED BY THE COMMITTEE AT THIS MEETING. 2. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING 21 September 2015. 3. INTERESTS Members are required to declare the existence and nature of any interests they may have in subsequent agenda items in accordance with the District Council’s Code of Conduct. Those interests are matters that relate to money or that which can be valued in money, affecting the Member her/his partner, extended family and close friends. Interests that become apparent at a later stage in the proceedings may be declared at that time. 1 Issued on 18 September 2015 Page Nos 4. DERBYSHIRE DALES LOCAL PLAN SETTLEMENT 3 – 72 HIERARCHY To consider a report which sets out the outcomes of work that has been undertaken to assess the relative roles and functions of settlements across the plan area and the extent to which they can contribute towards meeting future needs. The report recommends the identification of a settlement hierarchy that takes account of each settlements social, economic and environmental circumstances. 5. DERBYSHIRE DALES LOCAL PLAN EVIDENCE BASE 73 – 79 UPDATE – INFRASTRUCTURE AND VIABILITY To consider a report which sets out the outcomes of work that has been undertaken to support the preparation of a revised Derbyshire Dales Local Plan in respect of the Infrastructure, Viability and Community Infrastructure Levy and recommends that this work is taken into account during the preparation of the revised Derbyshire Dales Local Plan. Members of the Committee: Councillors Martin Burfoot, Albert Catt, Phil Chell, Tony Morley, Tony Millward, BEM, Garry Purdy, Mike Ratcliffe, Lewis Rose, OBE, Andrew Shirley, Andrew Statham, Peter Slack, Jacquie Stevens Substitutes: Councillors Jason Atkin, Richard Bright, Deborah Botham, Sue Burfoot, Ann Elliott, Richard FitzHerbert, Chris Furness, Alyson Hill, Susan Hobson, Neil Horton, Angus Jenkins, Joyce Pawley 2 Issued on 18 September 2015 NOT CONFIDENTIAL – For public release Item No. 4 LOCAL PLAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE 28 SEPTEMBER 2015 Report of the Corporate Director DERBYSHIRE DALES LOCAL PLAN SETTLEMENT HIERARCHY SUMMARY This report sets out the outcomes of work that has been undertaken to assess the relative roles and functions of settlements across the plan area and the extent to which they can contribute towards meeting future needs. The report recommends the identification of a settlement hierarchy that takes account of each settlement’s social, economic and environmental circumstances. RECOMMENDATION 1. That the Committee endorse the Settlement Assessment as set out in Appendix 1 of the report. 2. That the findings of the Settlement Assessment be taken into consideration in the preparation of a revised Derbyshire Dales Local Plan. WARDS AFFECTED All Wards outside the Peak District National Park STRATEGIC LINK The Derbyshire Dales Local Plan will be a pivotal tool in the delivery of the Council’s Corporate Plan and the Derbyshire Dales and High Peak Sustainable Communities Strategy 1 BACKGROUND 1.1 The National Planning Policy Framework states that the purpose of the planning system is to contribute to the achievement of sustainable development and identifies three dimensions to sustainable development: economic, environmental and social. The location, scale and distribution of new development can have an impact upon social, economic and environmental well-being. It is important, therefore, that in meeting the development needs of the Derbyshire Dales, care is taken to ensure that the principles of sustainable development are being met. 1.2 The formulation of a settlement hierarchy is a commonly used policy tool, as it provides a useful basis for planning in a sustainable way. It seeks to guide development to those locations where local services and employment are available, whilst minimising environmental impacts and the need to travel. 1.3 The withdrawn Derbyshire Dales Local Plan included a settlement hierarchy, which categorised 22 settlements into three tiers; Market Towns, Larger Villages and 3 Smaller Villages. However, the validity of this hierarchy needs to be reviewed to ensure it reflects the latest information about the availability of services, and to take account of economic and environmental factors in order to respond effectively to guidance in the National Planning Policy Framework. 1.4 An updated settlement assessment has therefore been undertaken which seeks to analyse settlements in the plan area in terms of their key economic, environmental and social characteristics. Such factors are relevant to defining their function and ability to address the District Council’s future development needs, particularly for housing development. 1.3 The resulting settlement hierarchy groups together those settlements that have broadly similar characteristics. At the top of the hierarchy are settlements that play a key role within the District, providing services used by a much wider catchment, having the best infrastructure (facilities and services) and which are relatively well connected in terms of transport links. At the bottom of the hierarchy are settlements, which have relatively few services and facilities, less infrastructure and are more isolated in terms of transport links. 2 METHODOLOGY AND MAIN FINDINGS 2.1 To ensure compliance with the NPPF, the Derbyshire Dales Local Plan should seek to guide development to the most sustainable settlements across the plan area. In general the most sustainable settlements have the greatest concentrations of shops, services, employment and leisure opportunities which are easily accessible to the greatest number of people, and tend to be the largest settlements. 2.2 Within the plan area, the largest and most sustainable settlements are easy to identify. Consequently, no detailed assessment has been undertaken of Ashbourne, Matlock and Wirksworth. A detailed assessment has however, been undertaken of: • Settlements with a population of over 400; • Settlements with a population below 400 where these support a primary school. 2.3 Settlements with a population less than 400 without a primary school, are not considered to provide a sustainable basis for accommodating major development (i.e. schemes of 10 dwellings or over), as analysis shows that service provision in such settlements is extremely limited. However, in some instances, small scale development may still be permitted within these settlements (subject to Local Plan policy compliance). 2.4 Whilst some settlements with less than 400 residents may support a public house and/ or a village hall, there are no settlements below this figure which support a convenience store except where special circumstances apply e.g. the National Trust presence in Sudbury. 2.5 The assessment considered the key economic, environmental and social factors in each of 21 settlements and included the following: • Economic - the number of businesses or organisations providing employment within each settlement and the proximity of the settlement to employment centres and large employment sites; 4 • Environmental - the landscape sensitivity around each settlement i.e. the ability of the local landscape to accommodate change (an assessment itself based upon analysis of a wide variety of factors relating to flood zones, built and natural heritage designations, topography, landscape character, etc.) and the agricultural grade of surrounding land; • Social - the frequency of public transport services, accessibility to the nearest town, as well as level of provision of community halls, convenience shops, public houses, GP Surgeries, post offices, pharmacies, and primary schools. 2.6 Each of the 21 settlements was given a score for its economic, environmental and social characteristics. The approach to scoring sought as far as possible, to avoid subjective weighting assumptions and applies a system of scoring which applies equal weight being given to economic, social and environmental considerations with the theoretical potential maximum score of 20 points per factor. The total score achieved for each settlement is indicative of its level of sustainability and provides the general basis for the grouping of settlements under the headings of Market Towns, Urban Areas, Larger Villages, Smaller villages and Other Villages. 2.7 The scores for each settlement have been added up and are shown in the Table 1 below. As a brief guide: • A high score on the economic factor reflects a settlement which has a reasonable number of businesses providing employment within the settlement and a short drive

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